Max Rudolph

Name: Max Rudolph

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12th (Senior)

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Western European culture, philosophy and dialectic, baseball, debate team, reading political literature, right wing politics, volunteering.

Appearance: Max is of mixed European descent, coming from various different western lineages and nationalities, but his family sticks to the story that they are primarily German in origin. His hair is white-blonde, styled in a faded undercut style. Max is 5'10" and weighs about 155 pounds, giving him a Body Mass Index number of 22.2. Most of this weight is muscle built up by years of exercise and sport. His face is not completely clean of pimples and blemishes, with several scattered around his forehead, but overall his skin his relatively clear. His eyes are light blue in color. His face has a diamond shape, with a narrow chin, forehead, and wider cheekbones. Max's voice is fairly deep and strong, and he has no trouble projecting while maintaining a conversational tone. He often speaks in a sarcastic tone without meaning to.

He has a somewhat extensive wardrobe on account of his parent's wealth, but most often wears unbuttoned dress shirts with simple patterns and a t-shirt underneath, as well as an understated cross necklace dangling around his neck. He wears khaki and chino dress pants and brown loafer shoes. When the day comes that he has baseball practice, he wears jogging pants and Adidas sneakers. On the day of the abduction, Max was wearing a combination of his activewear and his more casual attire. He wore a light gray dress shirt with a light blue t-shirt underneath, his cross necklace, grey jogging pants with white stripes going down the sides, black socks and white sneakers.

Biography: Max Rudolph was born on November 11th, 1999. He comes from an upper class background; his father, Kristoff, and his mother, Anastasia, first met in the lobby for an accounting firm in Chattanooga, where they had both moved after university. The two are both absent from the house most of the time, and from around age eleven Max had to learn how to take care of himself, monetary concerns aside. Anastasia works as a corporate lawyer with a local law firm, and Kristoff makes additional money in his practice as an anesthesiologist, though the two also use money that comes from their respective family estates. The pair bought a large house in the suburbs of Chattanooga, not far from the Frazier's Glen gated community. As a young child, Max would often get lost wandering around the house and looking at paintings hanging on the wall. His parents had taken on art collecting as a hobby, spending extra money on smaller pieces to hang around the house. Most of the artwork they collected depicted scenes of the Renaissance and the enlightenment, sparking Max's imagination and eventual interest in these cultures.

Once he learned how to read, Max's imagination quickly filled with images of chivalrous knights in shining armor and castles in lands far away, springing from fairy stories he read and aided by the paintings he had grown up with around the home. The concepts of chivalry and chivalrous behavior implanted themselves in his mind, and those values are still the core of his sense of morals to this day. Eventually, as he grew older and began to read more intricate and complicated texts, Max dug into the politics of feudal systems on a surface level, taking note of the system of peasants and lords that governed medieval times. As time went on, his interest in history deepened in intensity, particularly in the history of Europe due in no small part to his prior fascination with medieval times.

At a young age, Max's parents could afford to send him off to daycare, where he met other children his age. He found it easy to interact with other children, and soon his parents began to set up playdates for him. Noticing that other children were impressed by the size of his house, Max began to take pride in his privileged upbringing. However, as he grew older and more independent and saw how relatively fortunate he had been, he was filled with the desire to share some of the wealth he enjoyed with others. To that end, once he grew old enough to leave the house on his own, he began to infrequently volunteer at local food banks and homeless shelters.

His social popularity continued on into elementary school, where he continued to enjoy respect from both his classmates and his teachers. However, by the time he entered middle school, he began to grow tired of his popularity and quietly began to withdraw from others. He excelled in all of his studies, regardless of the subject, and school began to bore him with how repetitive it was. After rediscovering some of the books he had attempted to read while he was younger and finding that he was able to comprehend more of the abstract concepts mentioned therein, his interest in history was born anew, and he began to compare how mundane his life was with the daily toiling of people in different time periods, entrenching himself further in his obsession with the past. Around the same time as he began to be more vocal with his ideals with his friends, Max began to conceal his volunteering habits from others, believing that others should judge his ideals without taking into account his personal life.

Some of the few times that Max got to spend time with his father were on weekends, while he was home from school, when the two would play catch in the backyard. Kristoff, as a somewhat unhealthy man himself, began to realize that his son had a knack for sport, and looked for a local youth baseball team for him to join. Coaches were fond of Max, as he would always put in extra effort after practice to help clean up gear. His lightness on his feet and quick reflexes earned him a spot as the team shortstop, a position that he would hold onto for his entire baseball career despite several ill-fated attempts by coaches to place him on third base. His form at bat was also of note to coaches, and he quickly found himself in the starting lineup on his team. Soon enough, Max found himself popular among the athletic children at school for his baseball prowess. For the most part his good social standing would carry forward into middle school and high school, though his opinionated personality and pride in his baseball abilities would begin to divide public opinion on him.

Cultivating both academic and athletic interests, there was little time for much else in the way of hobbies. Growing into a relatively self sufficient young man, Max began to search for activities that would help him grow as a person in a way that he could tie into his academic pursuits. The idea of pursuing what he viewed as a useless hobby—such as the increasingly abstract art classes or the informal and undisciplined music groups at school—that did not contribute to the betterment of his role in society, repulsed him. He decided to join the school debate team as soon as such an opportunity became available to him. Though very invested in debate as a sport, he is primarily using his involvement with the team team as a personal space to practice his rhetorical ability. Max finds the debate team stimulating enough that it keeps him intellectually interested, but often wishes that his opponents were more skilled. He has won several debate competitions and placed well in several others, both as part of the team and on his own. He endeavors to continue to compete in college, though he is worried that he will eventually grow bored with it. Simultaneously, he developed an interest in philosophy, reading through the bookshelves of his parents each night after he finished his school work. Legal procedures and theory—knowledge gained from books his mother studied in college—failed to register properly as theoretical in his relatively younger mind, and instead planted the seeds of authoritarianism in his brain.

His inquiry into history and philosophy mixed with his newfound authoritarian views eventually led to him taking on conservative viewpoints in his personal life, inspired more by the values of the time the literature he read was written in. The idea that everyone could and should earn their place in society if they worked hard enough, regardless of their background, became the cornerstone of his personal philosophy. Using himself as an example, he implored his friends to pursue a more virtuous lifestyle. Perceiving a lack of interest in his views from those he proselytized to, he grew discouraged and began to detach from common social conventions. As a well adjusted adolescent, he experimented with attending parties and engaged in several common rites of passage, but as he continued to read increasingly radical books he developed several reservations. Silently, he began to resent others for what he saw as a vice-filled, thoughtless lifestyle. Outwardly, he presented himself as the star athlete and academic that he had built himself up to be, but inwardly, he cultivated a reactionist attitude and spite toward the increasingly obscene activities and actions of his peers.

At the behest of some of his reading material, he turned towards God, and began to attend local Catholic church services alone. His parents, having never had time for religion, passed on the opportunity, leaving him to study the bible and the teachings of Christ with few to discuss them with. As such, any interpretations or misinterpretations of the bible that he had were left on their own to solidify without correction or clarification. The mental divide between his outwardly friendly and kind demeanor and his inwardly pious and virtuous persona only increased with time, as he had no outlet he was comfortable venting through. He began to wander through online message boards and alternative news outlets, searching for people with similar ideals to his own. In doing so, he became more and more reserved and quiet, taking on a more stoic attitude to life. His friendliness and patience with others began to erode, and he decided he would waste no words on things that he did not mean.

Though he still felt widely accepted by his peers, his refusal of several sexual encounters—as he made it a point to save his virginity for the one he wished to marry—and continued abstinence from alcohol and drugs—the general health of his body becoming key to his personal belief system—led to several branding him as a prude, and he became detached from social expectations. Poor word choice and emotional outbursts on several occasions led to his association with right wing politics becoming somewhat common knowledge, and the ridicule he faced from some of his peers only led him further down the path that he had started on, solidifying his conviction that the lives of most other adolescents were morally corrupt and without responsibility.

One evening, he found himself reading ebook copies of several works by important figures from Nazi Germany. Though he acknowledged their actions as morally reprehensible and their ideals as ones he found personal disgust for, the idea of national socialism appealed to him more than capitalism, which in his mind had taken the blame for why so many of his peers had fallen to degenerate behaviors. His studies soon turned toward controversial governments in history and his political pursuits towards alternative and often extreme viewpoints, such as the alt-right movement and nationalism in Europe. Knowledgeable of the stigma that engaging with these subjects brings, Max is careful to only discuss them in explicit terms with those he feels he can truly trust.

Max has fairly standard ambitions for education once he leaves high school. He applied to several law schools and Ivy League colleges, looking into student bodies with established right wing gatherings and political clubs to join. Eventually, he committed to U Penn, and he is looking forward to starting his higher education there in the fall. Choosing to take after his mother, he plans to look toward the legal system for a job, and though his specific wishes for employment are somewhat abstract, he sometimes dreams of being a courtroom judge, the position of a moral arbiter appealing to him greatly. Additionally, Max plans on studying abroad during college, hoping to first visit Europe in order to immerse himself in his heritage. Afterwards, he endeavors to volunteer in a third world country with both local and international charities.

Advantages: As an athlete, Max has above average physical abilities. In particular, his hand-eye coordination and upper body strength is fairly high. His stamina is well trained, and he has no problems keeping up a decently fast running speed over a long distance. In a close combat fight Max's athletic background has him well prepared to fight most opponents. His system of virtue carries with it an underlying respect for his enemies that will keep him from underestimating them on a strategic level.

Disadvantages: Under stress, Max is more prone to speak without regard to the severity of his ideas, potentially creating enemies where there otherwise would be none. His system of chivalry could lead to conflicts with those who oppose the same ideals, and the betrayal of his trust will send him into a somewhat irrational state. His sense of charity could lead to him putting those he views as too weak to defend themselves before himself, and he is likely to refuse help or assistance unless he is gravely wounded. Finally, his sense of virtue could lead to him making decisions that reflect better on his philosophical values than they do on his sense of survival.

Designated Number: Male student No. 049

---

Designated Weapon: Man-catcher

Conclusion: Faith is a great strength, even on the island. If B049 can keep his head held high and maintain his faith in the face of adversity, he certainly has a chance to go far. - Boris Petrikov

'The above biography is as written by CrossbowPig. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: CrossbowPig

Kills: Jeff Greene

Killed By: Shrapnel wounds from collar detonation

Collected Weapons: Man-catcher (assigned weapon)

Allies: Camilla Bell, Lucas Abernathy, Darlene Silva

Enemies: 

Mid-game Evaluation:  Max was nauseous upon wakening, but purged himself quickly and moved onto a very carefully planned expose of his intent, as was befitting his character. He expressed directly to a camera in the rice paddies his dogma: he intended to play a game of retribution, gathering allies to strengthen his position until he could enforce a state of morality upon the island. He was aware of the lawlessness being inevitable, but personally believed he had a code almost evocative of Hammurabi in nature to uphold. He did, however, afford himself some flexibility in terms of crimes and drastic actions, he would not excuse himself for being reprehensible, but was prepared for the possibility.

Max's first destination thereafter was the stables, where he intended to scope out his first allies. He found Camilla Bell, who at least appeared injured, and was quick to approach and offer aid. Before she could clarify they were suddenly being held at gunpoint by Lucas Abernathy, who had been obscured and out of sight in one of the stalls. He made demands of them, Max was quick to stand his ground, believing short of death that all outcomes would be favorable to him. Lucas backed down, ready to admit he wasn't prepared to pull the trigger as Max stood his ground. They introduced themselves in a terse moment of conversation, as Camilla's fatalism led Max to soberly wonder if other confrontations like their own had gone less peacefully elsewhere on the island. They all wondered what would come next, in their final days, Max used the existential threat to try and turn them to his way of thinking, to stopping potential the immoral from prevailing. He did his best to appeal to Lucas' more selfish instinct to find friends, to try and assuage a reluctant Camilla. In the end he was able to convince them both, reassuring them that he'd also play his part, with his weapon if he had to. He led them on, to begin the search for others who could also be convinced.

Max led them- despite his weapon being less immediately useful than Lucas' gun, he reasoned that playing the role of leader would earn his allies' trust. His first crisis of leadership presented itself in gunfire from deeper in the woods they'd started to roam. Their group emerged into the midst of another: Henry Sparks, Darlene Silva, Beryl Mahelona, Jonah Heartgrave, and Abraham Watanabe, who had been doing target practice with their collection of assigned guns. He determined they would likely be a good target for his designs, and led the approach. Max and Jonah singled one another out, as the two of them shared an athletic team, and Max wanted to press Jonah for information. The congregation of folks separated out into smaller groups of people speaking, exchanging information. Chaos then broke out- a gunshot pierced the air. Henry and Lucas were running to whoever had been shot- Beryl, but Max was more focused on immediately handling the other problem- Darlene, who had apparently gunned Beryl down. Max used the man catcher to pin Darlene by the arm. Darlene begged to be freed but refused to relinquish the gun- it only ended up being forcibly taken away by Lucas. Max saw the aftermath from where he was- Camilla had cut and run, Lucas had tried to use the gun to cut Beryl's suffering short, and the job had been finished by passerby Nick Ogilvie. Max averted his eyes from the final executioner's blow, unwilling to watch. He was distracted by his own scene, as Jonah separated him from Darlene and insisted the gunshot had been an accident, leading Max to feel some guilt. He observed that everything had thoroughly fallen apart- someone had even stolen some unattended bags in the process. He watched Jonah lead Darlene away, and for a moment considered giving chase, but his resolve faltered and he moved on alone, unwilling to interrupt the remainder mourning Beryl and shaken by his failure in the face of his first major stress test.

Post-Game Evaluation: 

Memorable Quotes: "...It might be necessary to commit crimes under certain circumstances. That does not exonerate those criminals from their misdeeds." - While moralizing to himself and viewers at home, Max admits he may have to commit the crimes he condemns.

"I'm sorry. I cannot, in good conscious, avenge this death as I should." - As Jonah leads Darlene away from the aftermath of Beryl's death and Max watches.

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Max, in chronological order.

The Past: V7 Pregame: Prom: The Trip: V7: Related Threads in Meanwhile:
 * To Be a Brilliant Light
 * life observes itself
 * Disc Rot
 * The Noble Eavesdropper
 * Everybody Needs Somebody To Hate
 * There's Always Some Fear in Love
 * Melian Myopics
 * Ich Bin Ein Berliner
 * Bloom Nobly, in a Transient Life
 * [ ]
 * Who Can Stay The Bottles Of Heaven?
 * DXXM
 * But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter?
 * Circle of Steel
 * Mad As Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore
 * Writing the Enigma

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Max Rudolph. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''